1st Battalion, 501st Infantry Regiment, 4th Brigade Combat Team, 25th Infantry Division, watch CH-47 Chinook helicopters above circle during a dust storm at the forward operating base of Kushamond, Afghanistan, July 17 in preparation for an air attack mission.
US Army Photo
WASHINGTON – NATO Secretary-General Jens Stoltenberg said on Thursday that the alliance had not yet decided whether the 10,000 troops it had in Afghanistan would leave the country by May, in line with a US-US peace deal. the Taliban.
“Violence must be reduced and the Taliban must stop cooperating with international terrorist groups planning terrorist attacks in our countries,” Stoltenberg told reporters at the end of a two-day NATO virtual defense meeting.
Last February, the United States entered into an agreement with the Taliban that would usher in a permanent ceasefire and further reduce the U.S. military’s footprint from about 13,000 troops to 8,600 by mid-July last year.
According to the agreement, all foreign forces would leave the war-weary country by May 2021.
“Our goal is to ensure that we have a lasting political agreement that enables us to leave in a way that does not undermine our main goal, and that is to prevent Afghanistan from becoming a safe haven again. [for terrorists], “Stoltenberg said, adding:” This is also the reason why we will continue to assess the situation before making a final decision on our future. “
Jens Stoltenberg, 13th Secretary General of the North Atlantic Treaty Organization, will speak to the media at NATO Headquarters on 11 February 2020 in Brussels, Belgium.
Thierry Monasse / Getty Images
“The majority of the troops come from European allies and partner countries. We will do what is necessary to make sure our troops are safe,” Stoltenberg said when asked if the alliance was prepared for violence if the deal with the Taliban be broken.
There are about 2,500 U.S. troops in the country. Currently, the U.S. plan to withdraw U.S. service members from Afghanistan by May 1, 2021.
Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin has told NATO members that the Biden government is conducting a thorough review of the terms of the US-Taliban agreement to determine whether all parties have complied with the terms, according to a Pentagon reading of the meeting.
“He reassured allies that the United States would not undertake a hasty or disorderly withdrawal from Afghanistan,” the statement added.
The Pentagon had earlier said US troops in Afghanistan would depend on the Taliban’s commitments to uphold the peace deal launched last year.
The wars in Afghanistan, Iraq and Syria have cost US taxpayers more than $ 1.57 billion since September 11, 2001, according to a Defense Department report. The war in Afghanistan, now America’s longest running conflict, began 19 years ago and cost US taxpayers $ 193 billion, according to the Pentagon.
Stoltenberg also said on Thursday that the NATO alliance had decided to expand its security training mission in Iraq. The military alliance has agreed to increase its footprint from 500 personnel to about 4,000.
“Our presence is based on conditions and the increase in the number of troops will be incremental,” he said, adding that the Iraqi government had called for an expanded mission.